Next-generation airships

CaptionAirship

Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

A new blimp-like airship is being constructed by Worldwide Aeros in a World War II-era blimp hanger at a former military base in Tustin. The airship will be used by the military to carry tons of cargo to remote areas around the world.

A new blimp-like airship is being constructed by Worldwide Aeros in a World War II-era blimp hanger at a former military base in Tustin. The airship will be used by the military to carry tons of cargo to remote areas around the world. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

In recent years, the affordability of airships and developments in high-definition cameras, high-powered sensors and other unmanned technologies have prompted the military to buy more blimps, zeppelins and spy balloons. Many of these new-generation hybrid "lighter than air" aircraft are...